When we got to the end of Backcountry Byway we were close to Quemado,  New Mexico, a pretty area near the Apache National Forest that we had enjoyed last Fall.  That time we drove around looking at rural land for sale.  This time we got gas in town then went South of town to camp at Quemado Lake.  They have a string of about five campgrounds up a canyon beside the lake where we had camped before and we camped again.  We stayed in one of the free campgrounds for a couple nights,then filled all our water containers at one of the paid campgrounds.  This place has some of the largest bear-proof trash dumpsters I have ever seen.  They are so tall that they had to build ramps beside them so you can reach the latched openings up on the sides.  They are too big for a trash truck to come out and lift them for dumping.  Instead they have a tongue and hitch on front so they can be hauled away to a landfill.  They are serious about no bears in the trash at Quemado Lake.

After leaving the lake, we went further south, through Apache Creek (a junction in the road with a tiny store).  This is a particularly beautiful location with a creek on a wide floodplain.  Last Fall the trees in the area were stunning with changing leaf colors.  This Spring the new leaves were again stunning in a different way.  Clearly this “creek” carries a ton of water at certain times of year.  After Apache Creek the road rolls into a tiny town called Reserve.  They had a little grocery store that didn’t look like much on the outside, but was crammed full on the inside with just about everything you might need, including a full-service meat counter.  Fresh vegetable section was minuscule, though.  Mostly iceberg lettuce. The only thing I was willing to buy from that section was a red bell pepper.  I didn’t check the prices of things I bought—I was just thrilled they had a variety of stuff.  Today, at camp, I saw that cans of Progresso soup I had purchased were $5.29 each.  Ouch!!  Reserve looked like an interesting little town.  They have to be pretty self-sufficient there since its location is so remote.  No cell signal at all in Reserve.

From Reserve we drove on up into higher mountains.  We were headed for Snow Lake campground 51 miles more remote than Reserve.  It is in the Gila Wilderness on the North side of the mountains where we camped near the Gila Cliff Dwellings.  Not sure if you can even get through to the other side from here—maybe on a sometimes “impassable” road.

This drive was gorgeous.  The area has been logged and then cleaned up at some point, so the trees left are all tall but thin and no undergrowth.  Looks almost park-like.  We pulled over and backed into a logging road for a lunch break.  While we were there we saw three elk cows browsing in the forest directly across the road.  They stared at us for a while, then wandered off.

After miles and miles of beautiful forest and mountain-top meadows we abruptly entered into the Negrito Fire burn area.  What a shock.  Not sure when this fire was (without cell service I can’t look it up), but it devastated a large area.  Snow Lake was on the other side of the burn and we decided not to stay, even though they had water at the campground.  Instead we backtracked about 20 miles to a different campground called Gwynne Tank.  Its only amenity is a vault toilet, but it’s a lovely small meadow with surrounding big pines and a tiny lake just over the rise.  We can see and hear the trickle of water over the spillway that runs along one edge of the camp.  We have been here 4 days so far and are the only campers here.  We’re planning to stay put until Memorial weekend is past,  another 4 days.